Victim will ‘never forget’ assault
Attacker one of more than 100 to re-offend in NZ after expulsion from Australia. Marty Sharpe and Kelly Dennett report.
A criminal booted out of Australia could now face jail time in New Zealand after a vicious and unprovoked attack on two young men at a Taranaki bar.
One of the victims told the Sunday Star-Times he will never forget the ordeal and is battling anxiety. He had curled into a ball as the attacker kicked and punched him and called him a ‘‘f ..... ’’.
Steven Des Thompson, 29, appeared in the Wairoa District Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and a third of assault with intent to injure following the February attack.
Inquiries reveal Thompson had been subject to a Returning Offenders Order for 12 months, meaning Corrections monitored him as they would a paroled New Zealand prisoner. But that expired after 12 months – he was not subject to any supervision when he lashed out this year.
Soon after the order expired he was convicted of threatening behaviour, in July 2017, before this year assaulting two young men at Crowded House bar and cafe in New Plymouth.
Despite Thompson’s reoffending, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said he believed the Returning Offenders Act was operating successfully.
Figures provided by Corrections show that since the act was passed under urgency in November 2015, to deal with the number of convicts being ousted from Australia, 707 people have been subject to a Returning Offender Order. Of those, 112 have re-offended.
According to a court summary, Thompson launched the attack ‘‘without provocation’’ on the first victim, whom he punched in the face.
An associate, who was never caught, then knocked the victim to the ground with a coward punch.
Thompson continued the attack by punching and kicking the victim as he lay on the ground.
The second victim, who intervened, was told to ‘‘f... off you f ..... ’’ before being punched and kicked.
That man, aged 22, said he ‘‘curled into a ball in fear’’ during the attack. Initially he believed he had been targeted because of his sexuality, saying being ‘‘openly and proudly gay’’ he rarely went out at night for fear of abuse.
He now believes it was a random attack and has asked not to be identified.
The attack has knocked his confidence yet again.
‘‘My confidence was crushed. I don’t believe I will ever go to town again in New Plymouth,’’ he said.
‘‘Unfortunately because he could not control how much he drank, and his anger, I now have to go back to square one and re-control my anxiety in social situations.
‘‘I know I will never forget the ordeal.’’
Thompson will be sentenced in June and, this week, Judge Warren Cathcart warned him he could be jailed, describing the offending as ‘‘really serious’’.
The Sentencing Act has a provision that hostility based on victims’ sexual orientation can be an aggravating factor in sentencing, but prosecutor Tessa Brownlie told Judge Cathcart the motivation was unclear with Thompson’s language likely ‘‘an attempt to diminish (the victim).’’
Thompson told police he had drunk ‘‘a fair bit of whiskey’’ and couldn’t remember his offending.
Davis said a 2017 Ministry of Justice report indicated ‘‘overall the act is operating successfully and the intent of the legislation is being met’’.